EXPLORER LOSES

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 83, 9 April 1928, Page 4

EXPLORER LOSES

STRANGE LIBEL ACTION MR. MITCHELL-HEDGES' CASE ■Ai'/BOAD HOLD-UP (F»m "The Post's" Representative.) , LONDON, 22nd. February. Mr. F. A. Mitchell-Hedges, explorer, Iteturer, and journalist, has come off ft_dly in Ms case against the "Daily ' Skpress." He complained that the defcndauta published a bogus account of 'ft midnight attack upon him, in ■which Sey suggested that he was a party to c hoax for reasons of publicity. He Claimed damages to his reputation as fUa explorer and'author, and after four Hays of dramatic testimony and forensic •ppeal, the. jury, without leaving the >ox, decided in favour of the defendants. Counsel for tho ?'Daily Express" laid, that the newspaper had no wish jka ruin the young man by the costs ■rising in the action, and in those circumstances —and out of that considera|oon only—they did not ask for any frder as to costs. It will be recalled that on 14th January of last year Mr. Mitchell-Hedges Urovo a ,friend, a Mr. Edgell, from the ■ational Liberal Club, where he had "iecn dining, to his hoxiso at Sandbanks, Porset, where his wife and child lived. Ur. Mifcchell-Hedges had had a very lmsy day. He had lectured to the employees 6f the Bank of England, had broadcast, and had dined for political reasons at the National Liberal Club. The Basinstoke road being under- repair, he; went via Guildford and the Hog's Back. They were on the Ports.mouth road when- the motor-car was •topped because a man came out of the arkness and said that a man had been ijured -ear by. The chauffeur went .own the lane, and the plaintiff and ii_ friend were following him vhen ] Bveral men jumped out upon them. | ifter■ a, short skirmish the men ran, i way, arid tho chaufEeur, who had been ' ound' with ropes, ;was released. ■ The jury had to decide whether the fclaintiff had ever heard of any such bo—c, or whether he was an absolutely innocent party in the hands ,«f a number of people whom the defendants had specified by name; and whether, in poir.t of fact, the "Daily Express" were either misled or wore careless in what they wrote when they attributed to the plaintiff any part in what had occurred; '■ ' "THE BATTLE." Under the heading of "The Battle," tho "Dialy Express" had the following:--:^; , ; . "Mr.,Mitchell-Hedges was in a more boisterous mood. He grappled with one 'baadit,' and, shouting that they might as well introduce a little realism, kicked his f,eet about in tho dirt to leave some clues for the sharp-eyed Surrey detectives, who would soon bo sent to the spot to look for 'signs of a struggle' ' It;: :Wtt» : a nico; friendly little bout. ■■''; "■•;•■ Mr. Mitchell-Hedges and Mr. Edgell disarranged their clothes and dirtied their hands and facos. J' TJnder the heading "At the Station" it was said: "It was quite three hours before Mr. Mitchell-Hedges and his two companions had satisfied the thirst Of tho police for tho fullest particulars, and their long sojourn iit the police station caused much perturbation at an address in London, where a full meeting of the 'bandits' was waiting for a telephone message from Mr. MitchellHedges that all was well." In the-;,«wrso of- his evidence the plaintiff said 1 that ho had no knowledge of any hoax ob the, night of the attack. Mr. Jowitt'(cross-examining):"Are you an adventurer?"—"ln tho sense that I go abroad, yes." "In tho sense that you take advantage of tho credulity of other people by protending to have bad adventures which you havo not had, or exaggerating adventures which you have hnd, are you an adventurer?" —"I shotiiil eay'uot." , "Do you hesitate about .that?"— "No; every man 1b an. adventurer in some way." Counsel quoted,, from Mr. MHchollHeages's biography in "Who's Who," the referenco to his fellowship of certain societies, including the Geographical, Liunean, and Zoological Societies, and asked whether anybody who paid his subscriptions could^pnt the initials T.8.G.8. and F.Z.S. after his name. The plaintiff: "I should say not; certainly not tho Linnean Society." In reply to his Lordship, the plaintiff agreed that overy member of those societies became a -Fellow. THE MEXICAN TRIP. Heferen.cO.was made to Mr. MitchellHedges 's exploration in Mexico. ■ "In 1921 you set sail for Jamaica, spent some tiino in catching fish there, arid went to Panama and discovered a new race of men?" —"Quito true." "Your companion on this voyage wjas Lady (Kiehmond.) Brown?"— ""Quite true." : "She has largo sums of money. at her disposal?"—"No; you are wrong." "Had she over explored before?"— "She had boon in Palestine, Algeria, and all sorts of places." "Who provided the general expenses of the expedition?"—"l should say, ■without the 'slightest doubt, Lady (Richmond) Browu.v" "Within a hundred miles of the Panama Canal you.dißoovcred not merely an unknown trilje, but a now race of men?" : Mr. Jowitt asked the plaintiff whe.tlu er Lady (Richmond) Browh-.did the exploring stories while he did the, fishing stories. (Laughter.) Mr, Mitchell-Heages: "You aro mak' ing a joke of this case." Tho plaintiff said that he was able to speak with the men of the newlydiscovered race because ho knew their language. His Lordship: "That is very interesting." , Mr. Jowitt suggested, to the plaintiff that he was no linguist, and Mr. Mit-chell-Hedges replied that he knew very little SpanishCounsel:: '''Perhaps you will admit that, this story of the Chucunaque Indians,, if ..not all untrue, is. so written up as to bear little relation. to what actually, took place?"—"lt is.the absolute truth, *ut I am suffering from amnesia and I cannot remember things. I spoke the language quite well when I came back to England." ''Were1 you and Lady (Bichmond) Brown in 'a tight place' in an Indian hut?"—"We" were in a reasonably tight place." ■...-';A NEW JBAOB. Mr. Jowitt quoted. several passages from the purported conversation in the hut, and the plaintiff said that they were all true if set down in the book. The plaintiff said that he could give j the. names of one or two diseases.mi the native language, as, for example, ,tht> name for stomach ache, but he could not .remember. ,the names; for measles, or Small-pox. ■ Beminded by Mr. Jowitt of his statement that he told, tho Indians that thoy would be utterly consumed by the fire of;the mighty gods if they failed to dol'a certain. thing, tho. plaintiff said thSt that was a correct account of what, took place. The conversation was partly by speech, .mid partly by signs. Mr. Jowitt: "And tho Indians wore Utterly cowed?"-—-''They -were." "It was a tremendous success1!"—-• "Naturally." > f'-Thoy' Jill ran away so frightened that they'burst' clean through the sido of the building?"—" Perfectly true. It wasbamboo." "How long did you slay with'

them?"—"lt might have been a fortnight." ■•■'.■ "On tho strength of your adventures you authorised the statement in' Who's Who' that you had discovered a new race of people?"—" Perfectly true. An American expedition went and proved everything that is in the book." Mr. William. Shaw, a chartered accountant, of Dublin, said that on the night of the abortive hold-up on 6th January, he went with Binsted, Bagot Gray, and .another man named Taylor in. Binsted's car to the point on the Bipley road, where the hold-up was to take place. „,• • Mr. J. B. Melville, K.C., for the "Daily Express": "Whom were you waiting for?? I—"For1 —"For Mr. Hedges and Mr. EdgeU." »,,,«„ "Was that part of the plan?" —"Cer-. tainly; they knew about it." "My part was to stop the car," said Mr ShaW. "A Mr. Bobson on his motor-cycle was one of, the party, aiid he was to drive for about 100 yards m front of the car to give us a warning." Mr. Melville: "How <lid that work O ut1"—"It did not work out. (Laughter.) The car went faster than was anticipated." ■ Mr. Shaw then described how he and his companions drove to Chatley lane on 14th January, and said that on that occasion Mr. Bagot Gray was m the forward position and Lawrence and he (Mr. Shaw) were behind a bush in the lane. They heard a motor-car approaching, and heard Mr. Gray stop it. "When the paTty from the car were nearly abreast of us," added Mr. Shaw, "we stepped out and.proceeded to tie up young Taylor." Mr. Melviljei "Did he offer any resistance?" —"None whatever." "Did he know what you were going to do"—"Perfectly well." "What did he do? "~"He put his hands behind his back to enable us to tie them more easily." (Laughter.) "IHd Lawrence or any other companion attack the-party? "—"There was no attack." '. "Did you hear Mr. Hedges say anything?"—" Just as we were finishing wrapping up young Taylor." ' Lord Hewart: "You call it wrapping it up. Making a parcel of him, I suppose?" „ Mr. Shaw: "Just at that time Mr. Sedges eaid, 'You be off, you fellows. We will do the rest.' Bagot Gray and myself trotted along to where cur car was waiting and drove off." Mr. Melville; "When Mr. Hedges said, 'We will do the rest,' did you see Mr. Edgell do anything?"—" When they all cam© down iv. a body Mr. Edgell went rather beyond us and proceeded to make the grass on the bank untidy." ' ' „ ' "Did you take any bog from Mr. Hedges's car?"—"No bag was taken," " - '' Or opwr Mr. Kdgcll 's bag and throw its conl-cflts about?"—"That,was not done -by any member of the so-called attacking party." "Did you see a bag there?" —"Yes, an attache case. I saw tho reduced hoads." ..'.'• Lord He wart: "The opposite of swollen." (Laughter.) JUDGE'S SUMMING UP. The Lord Chief Justice, in tho course of his summing up, said that naturally and properly enough', tho caso had beeu fought upon the simple aud solo ques-. tioß, "Is it true to say that tho plaintiff was a party to this hoax?" "A person who said he was not in tho hoax could, of course, prove that, if he had chosen to do so, by putting the, other five into the witness-box. Each one could then say, 'I had no arrangement which included him. He was no party .to it.' When you know that; Mr. Bago't Gray aud somo others were in this Court from the beginning, ami when you hear of'tho uninterrupted cordiality of tho relations, with Bagot Gray, is it or is it not a remarkable circurnstanco that Mr. Bagot Gray has not been pujt into tlic witness-box? "You may'^hink .it a very remarkable circumstance that not one of theso. persons has been called to say that the plaintiff wns, not a-party to tho hoax.] Tho advantage of hearing cvidonco 1 from witnesses in the box is* that when a person is speaking and, giving his an- ■ swers, ho conveys a certain impression to your minds. In this case .it would , not* have been very surprising if, at i tho close of the plaintiff's caso, you had said, 'We arc satisfied by the evidence given by the plaintiff .himself, and on his bohulf, that ho was in this matter.' "But, of course, the case cannot rest there. There has been affirmative) evidence called on the part of tho defendants, apd it is quite clear that if you accept the evidence of Mr. Shaw there is abundant proof that tho plaintiff was in this practical joke. "Does it or docs it not seem to you to bo a remarkablo circumstauco that the journey, having come to an. nbortivo end on 6fh January was repeated on 14th January? Why was it repeated? Betwocn 6th and 14th January Mr. Hedges saw Mr. _tige!l, Mr. Bagot Gray, and Mi^s Eileen Graves, and Mr. Edgoll, who was prepared to obtain a car for tho journey, was in communication with Taylor, Binsted, and. Bagot Gray, all of whom had takon part in the affair of 6th? January. • "In his evidence about the fight, Mr. Mitchell-Hodges said that they,struggled 'reasonably violently.' Tho other side said there was-no struggle. Where did this word 'reasonably' come from, .and what was it that suggested it to the mind of tho plaintiff? THE VEKDICT. "When n man is put forward as a ■ well-known .explorer, lecturer, and public speaker^'aud journalist, counsel, is not only entitled to exhibit, if he can, his true position, character, and record, but it is his duty ,to do so lest otherwise, the jury would pay more attention to the,evidence than they otherwise would do. You rocollect tho crossexamination as I do, and, at the end of tho cross-examination,', and at the end of the pjaintiffV - ovjdcnco, you may think Mr. Jowitt did not put it- one bit too high when he described the plaintiff as an impostor." Dealing briefly with tho question of damages, Lord He.wart told the jury that if they found for the plaintiff, there'was a convenient coin which was sometimes considered suitable, but if thoy woro satisfied, as they might bo from the evidence of the plaintiff, Mr. Edgoll, and Mr. Shaw, that Mr. Hedges was &■ party to this purposeful prank, their verdict would bo for the defendants. ' After consultation for a minute in their box.tho 'jury returned & verdict for the defendants; and judgment was entered accordingly: with costs. '